ipl-logo

History Of The Freedmen's Bureau

1400 Words6 Pages

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, popularly known as the Freedmen's Bureau (1865–72) was active during the Reconstruction period after the American Civil War. It was established by Congress On March 3, 1865 to provide health care, education, and technical assistance to newly freed black Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom. “This, in effect, constitutes the nation’s first social welfare agency and is tasked with helping 4 million liberated slaves adjust to freedom” (1144). The Bureau was involved in any problem of African Americans, including clothing, water, housing, education, health care and employment prospects. It provided twenty-one million rations of food to impoverished blacks as well as whites. …show more content…

In 1881, Samuel Gompers (1850–1924) organized the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States of America and Canada. Samuel Gompers and Adolph Strasser (1843-1939) established the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in Columbus, Ohio, in May 1886. Federation of Organized Trades, established in 1881, was the precursor of the American Federation of Labor. The American Federation of Labor emerged as a result of a conflict between trade unions and the Knights of Labor (Mancall et al., 5: 13). AFL was the first federation of labor unions in the United States. It included “25 diverse labor groups representing 150,000 workers. The AFL bec[ame] the cutting edge in labor matters over the next decade” (Fredriksen 1390). Its membership soon grew and it turned into the largest labor union organization throughout the country. “The American Federation of Labor [was] formed from various remnants of the Knights of Labor and other groups to improve the oftentimes scandalously poor working conditions in the coal mining industry” (1417). Unlike the Knights of Labor, the most influential organization of unions in the United States during the 1870s, AFL did not concentrate on national political issues. Instead, it focused on securing for its members “shorter hours, better wages, and safer working conditions” (1454). Hostile employers depicted peaceful protest as the acts of outlaws. In the early period of its emergence one of the chief goals of the AFL was to change this image (Kutler

Show More
Related

The Similarities And Differences Between The Knights Of Labor And The AFL

145 Words | 1 Pages

There are many simmaleritys and differences between the Knights of labor and the AFL this will explain only a few. The Knights were established in 1869 vs the AFL established in 1886 a few years later. This means the Knights are the predisesors of the AFL. Some made compromises others started boycotts, and the following explanes all. Both the AFL and the Knights had labor unions involved with them.

Read More

The Importance Of Failure Of The Freedman's Bureau

212 Words | 1 Pages

THE FREEDMAN 'S BUREAU The responsibilities of the Freedman 's Bureau The responsibilities of the Freedman 's Bureau were: a. To help former black slaves and poor whites in the South after the U.S. Civil War (1861-65). b. The Bureau also provided housing, food, established schools, offered medical aid and legal assistance.

Read More

Military Compromise Of 1877: The Freedmen's Bureau

739 Words | 3 Pages

Freedmen’s Bureau: The Freedmen’s Bureau was established in 1865 by Congress to help former black slaves and poor whites in the South in the aftermath of the U.S Civil War. It provided practical aid to 4 million newly freed Black Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom. The bureau built hospitals, distributed rations to impoverished Blacks as well as whites. Its greatest accomplishments were in education; more than 1,000 Black schools were built. Military Reconstruction Act: The Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 laid out the process for readmitting Southern states into the Union.

Read More

Historical Significance Of The Freedmen's Bureau

1260 Words | 6 Pages

Historical ID’s Freedmen’s Bureau: Definition: An agency established by northern missionary societies and groups of ex-slaves in 1865 to protect the legal rights of former slaves and to assist with their education, jobs, health care, and landowning. Clarifier: The Freedmen’s Bureau was one of the largest federal agencies to protect and aid to the less fortunate creating a social revolution resulting in profound changes in the nature of citizenship, the structure of politics, and the meaning of American freedom.

Read More

Knights Of Labor Research Paper

468 Words | 2 Pages

Before the structured labor society that we live in today, America was a very different working world; one plagued with injustice and grievances from workers across the job sectors. Two organizations, the Knights of Labor and later the American Federation of Labor acted as activists for reform and demanded better standards for working, living, and life for workers. Their strategies and success in achieving their goals were as different as the organizations themselves. Coming from a time of segregation and social divide, the Knights of Labor stood out as one of the most accepting labor unions of the age, which largely accounted for their membership to reach almost 800,000 members during its peak. All workers in a trade were included, regardless of their skill level.

Read More

How Did The Freedmen's Bureau Help African Americans

1077 Words | 5 Pages

Officially recognized as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, this federal institution aided millions of African Americans and poverty-stricken white people in the southern states after the Civil War. The Freedmen’s Bureau was able to accomplish many things in its years of operation, such as building new schools, colleges, and medical institutions; supplying food and medical provisions; and providing legal help by arranging employment agreements for African Americans. The Bureau was quite effective with hardworking agents, as they were able to contribute notably to the cause of the Bureau with its numerous accomplishments. In addition, they did not have a sufficient amount of funding and employees. But, some employees were not very diligent in their work as they were unscrupulous.

Read More

Essay On Organized Labor Dbq

1011 Words | 5 Pages

Organized Labor DBQ Starting in the 1870’s, there were large movements pushing to better the lives of the working and labor classes. Various unions were formed throughout the country, each with their own agendas, while progressives put pressures on the government for reforms. With corporations working against them, however, organized labor was not very successful in improving workers’ lives, a result of the awful plight of the workers, the power of the corporation, and the futility of strikes. The workers’ plight in the late 19th century was bleak.

Read More

The Homestead Strike: The American Federation Of Labor

86 Words | 1 Pages

The Homestead Strike, which culminated with a day-long gun battle on July 6 that left 12 dead and dozens wounded, led to a wave of de-unionization. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) began organizing unskilled iron and steel workers into federal unions in 1901. The AFL did not account for the hardening anti-union attitudes of U.S. Steel executives and plant managers, and the federation had no real plan to counterbalance the vast financial resources the company would pour into anti-union espionage, strikebreaking and union avoidance measures.

Read More

Early Workers Dbq

443 Words | 2 Pages

“In the United States history of unions, early workers and trade unions played an important part in the role for independence” (Union Plus). In 1866, the National Labor Union (NLU) ambitiously tried to achieve equal rights for women, African Americans, and mandate eight-hour work days. They managed to convince Congress to adopt the eight-hour work day, but only for federal employees. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) with approximately 1.4 million members was successful in wage negotiation, and enhanced work conditions for its members. “A combination of factors contributed to the debilitating Panic of 1873, which triggered what the public referred to at the time as the “Great Depression” of the 1870s” (OpenStax College, 2014).

Read More

The Accomplishments Of The Freedmen's Bureau

192 Words | 1 Pages

I used this textbook to learn many things about the Freedmen’s Bureau. The Freedmen 's Bureau helped former slaves adjust to freedom by providing food, housing, education, healthcare, and employment prospects. The Bureau was created through the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill initiated by Abraham Lincoln. The Bureau distributed 15 million rations of food to African Americans, and set up a system where planters could borrow rations in order to feed freedmen they employed. The most widely recognized of the Freedman 's Bureau 's achievements are its accomplishments in the field of education.

Read More

Knights Of Labor In The Gilded Age Essay

1572 Words | 7 Pages

The name was soon changed to the American Federation of Labor; this successful union was founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886. The AFL was a large alliance of many unions combined into one. This union practiced “Bread & Butter” unionism - the focusing on practical issues that workers had. The AFL pushed for common workplace reforms such as shorter, regulated workdays, safer working conditions, etc. In addition, the AFL called for workmen's compensation: if a worker gets hurt on the job, that person and their family should be entitled to a sum money.

Read More

Labor Movement Dbq

2082 Words | 9 Pages

Some prominent members are the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor, the United Mine Workers of America, and the Industrial Workers of the World. Starting with the Knights of Labor, established in 1869, the Knights of Labor sought to unite skilled and unskilled workers from a wide range of backgrounds with a few exceptions. As stated in the YAWP, “It welcomed all laborers, including women (the Knights only barred lawyers, bankers, and liquor dealers).” Despite the minor exclusions, the Knights of Labor found great success due to their inclusivity. However, outside of their successful memberships, the Knights of Labor had quite a few failures in its time.

Read More

Unions In America During The 19th Century

388 Words | 2 Pages

During the 19th century America was faced with many problems. These problem ranged from children labor to unemployment. Some workers decided to form a group called "union", a group to call their own. Companies’ owners were paying workers less them they deserved. Being treated unfairly they came together creating three unions, one was the American Federation of Labor (AFL, OR AF of L).

Read More

Industrialization In The Gilded Age Essay

812 Words | 4 Pages

The AFL advocated for most of the same things as the Knights of Labor. The American Federation of Labor used strikes and boycotts against owners to try and get what they wanted. Two major strikes that occurred were the Pullman Strike and the Homestead Strike. Both strikes were very dangerous and had millions of dollars of damage. Some of the strikes and boycotts did work and wages were raised, however some backfired and many workers ended up losing their

Read More

The Labor Unions In Carl Degler's Out Of Our Past

729 Words | 3 Pages

Nonetheless, the labor union of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) took a different approach; they formed an organization based only on white skilled workers such as ironworkers and bricklayers. As a result, their numbers were fairly low but overall the organization was nationally

Read More

More about History Of The Freedmen's Bureau

Related Topics

Open Document